The Guardian newspaper has responded to the alleged claim by Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President, stating that their article emphasizes on regime change under the guise of journalism.
The Guardian newspaper noted that the story published on its cover page on Friday, October 25, 2024, titled, ‘Misery, harsh policies driving Nigerians to desperate choices’, emphasized on the economic challenges that the country is facing.
In a statement , Bayo Onanuga stated that the story “openly incites unrest against President Bola Tinubu’s administration and advocates regime change under the guise of journalism.”
He went further to note that the storyline and content deviates from the normal way of reporting news which means that there is an agenda.
In a statement, The Guardian stated that Bayo Onanuga’s alleged claims is a misrepresentation of the reports.
It said, “The story is a factually balanced, dispassionate, well-researched and intensive report chronicling Nigeria’s civilian administration from inception to the current state of affairs, without any atom of hateful or inciting elements, remarks, innuendoes, and or connotations against the national and sub-national governments of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
“The publication simply aggregated the concerns of Nigerians across all classes on the troubling state of the nation with the expectation that the government will take the necessary steps to address the challenges. There is nothing in the report that advocates, propagates, endorses or suggests a military overthrow of the current government, as suggested by the Special Adviser.”